Culver's Classroom Observation

The group that I chose to observe consisted of four members. Three of the members were part of a family, including the mother, the older sister, and the younger brother. The fourth member I soon noted was the older sister’s friend who had tagged along. They had all come to Culver 's later in the evening to get ice cream a little after dinner time. As soon as they had found their table and sat down the mother had asked the three children what they would like to have. The three gave their answers and the mother got up to take the orders. Before she left, the younger brother had asked if he could go talk to his friends who he had seen sitting at a different booth. The mother said he could and so he too ran off, leaving the two teenagers by themselves

Along with the group members themselves, the setting in which I observed them provided its functions as well. Firstly, Culver 's holds a very evident manifest function: It is a fast food restaurant created to provide food for its customers. In this group’s situation, they had ordered ice cream from the establishment. However, Culver’s biggest latent function is that it provides a meeting place for families and friends to get together and eat. Within my observed group they were able to sit down together and enjoy ice cream, including with them the sister’s friend. Additionally, the brother was able to meet with some of his own friends who had been at a different

The one member of the group that appeared to have the most power over the others was the mother. As previously mentioned she had a few resources the others required, such as the vehicle and the license to be able to take them all to Culver 's, as well as the money to be able to purchase the ice cream. Additionally, because she was also the only adult and the mother of the family she had a sort of ascribed power that requires the children listen to her and do as she says because she has the ability to punish them otherwise. She was able to maintain this power by using the resources she had; she controlled the fact they were able to come, and whether or not the children were able to get ice cream. Had the children misbehaved or didn’t follow her orders, she could have easily told them she wouldn’t give them any ice cream or even take them to Culver 's in the first place. She could have also controlled whether or not the children to see their friends. If the little brother had been naughty, she could have denied him permission to go speak with his friends at the other table. If the sister’s behavior had gotten worse, she could have said that her friend would have to go home earlier or she wouldn’t be able to invite her back over sooner. It was because of these possible scenarios and punishments that the children all listened to the mother, even the older sister who had done so a little